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November 18, 2007 

Afghanistan trailing badly on development: study
Sun Nov 18, 7:17 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan is fifth last on a global index of human development, according to a report released Sunday, despite billions of dollars in aid and help since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

The country's ranking on the Human Development Index -- a composite survey of education, longevity and economic performance -- is the lowest outside Africa, according to the Afghanistan Human Development Report 2007.

The score was fractionally lower than that in the last such report, which was in 2004, but officials said this was more due to changes in data than a reflection of a real decline.

Accurate statistics are difficult to find in Afghanistan, where even the size of the population is not clear.

The report urged donors to fulfil aid commitments, adding that since 2006 they have contributed or pledged 10 billion dollars, "only half of what the government believes is needed to implement its development strategy."

Afghanistan's position of 174th out of 178 placed it above only Niger (the lowest), Sierra Leone, Mali and Burkina Faso, and it was second to last on a separate ranking reflecting inequalities between men and women.

The study had limited distribution in the United States in September but it was officially released Sunday in Kabul.

There had, however, been some progress, said the document drawn up by the Centre for Policy and Human Development at Kabul University, supported by the United Nations Development Programme.

Gross domestic product per person increased from 683 dollars in 2002 to 964 dollars in 2005, it said.

Another 132,000 square kilometres (52,800 square miles) of land was cleared of landmines in 2006 and the number of telephone users shot up to 2.5 million, or 10 percent of the population.

School enrolment has grown over the past five years from 900,000 to nearly 5.4 million, it said.

However, the report cautioned that about one-third of Afghans still do not have enough food to eat or access to safe drinking water, and only 12 percent of women are literate compared with 32 percent of men.

Infant mortality has dropped from 165 babies per 1,000 births to 135 but is still among the highest in the world, as is maternal mortality.

Life expectancy in 2005 was 43 years, down from 44.5 in 2003, it noted.

The report said development is being hit by the weak rule of law, including insurgent attacks that killed twice as many people in 2006 as in the previous year.

Other major concerns were "the abuse of political and military power, the misuse of public funds, the non-transparent privatisation of state-owned enterprises, kickbacks from the sale of narcotics, and other criminal activities."

The justice system was meanwhile struggling to cope, with underqualified judges, allegations of corruption and a backlog of some 6,000 cases awaiting adjudication.

The report proposed a "hybrid" system of justice to strengthen the rule of law with trusted traditional methods of dispute settlement, including through community meetings and tribal structures, complementing the judiciary.
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AFGHANISTAN: Fifth least developed country in the world
18 Nov 2007 14:34:31 GMT
More  KABUL, 18 November 2007 (IRIN) - Afghanistan has dropped a place in a UN global human development index, which ranks countries based on their citizens' economic income, life expectancy and literacy rate, according to the country's National Human Development Report (NHDR) for 2007.

Afghanistan was ranked 174th out of 178 countries - ahead of only Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone and Niger. In Afghanistan's first-ever human development report, which was released in 2004, the country was ranked 173rd and was widely expected to improve its human development indicators.

Afghans live almost nine years less than people in other Least Developed Countries, the report's findings show.

"Life expectancy [in Afghanistan] has dropped from 44.5 years in 2003 to 43.1 years in 2005," states the report, which was released on 18 November in Kabul.

The report acknowledges Afghanistan's steady progress in improving its health services and reducing child and maternal mortality figures (1,600 deaths per 100,000 births), but warns that over 30 Afghans still die from tuberculosis every day.

Poverty

Although Afghanistan has maintained double-digit economic growth over the past several years, it has failed to reduce extreme and prevalent poverty and hunger significantly, the report says.

The NHDR ranks Afghanistan as the poorest country in Asia, with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of US$964.

"Some 6.6 million Afghans do not meet their minimum food requirements, with 24 percent of households characterised by poor food consumption," the report says. Consequently, almost half all Afghan children under five are underweight, it adds.

The report also found that less than 30 percent of Afghanistan's 31 million citizens have regular access to clean water.

Education

Widely devastated by over 25 years of armed conflict, Afghanistan has one of the lowest adult literacy rates among developing countries, with the literacy rate for adults over the age of 15 falling from 28.7 percent in 2003 to 23.5 percent in 2005, the report states.

Afghan women, in particular, suffer lack of access to education. "Enrolment rates for women at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels are almost half that of men - 41.8 percent for females and 73.7 percent for males," the report said.

Women are also deemed far behind men in other human development indicators, such as access to health services, employment opportunities and longevity.

Rule of law

The 176-page NHDR 2007, produced by about 40 Afghan and international experts, primarily recommends a bridging of traditional rules with a formal judicial system in the country.

The report highlights some of the major shortcomings in both formal and informal legal mechanisms currently in place in the country and advocates for a hybrid system, which should expand women's participation in judicial decision-making and ensure reliable, transparent and easy access to justice for all Afghans.

The report warned of Afghanistan's limited progress towards its nine millennium development goals (MDGs). It said in spite of remarkable advances in human development since 2002, the country is not progressing fast enough in many sectors to achieve its MDGs by 2020, which will have "dire consequences for the poor and most vulnerable".
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Operation kills, wounds 100 Taliban: Afghan police
Sun Nov 18, 12:50 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - An operation involving Afghan and Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan has killed or wounded around 100 Taliban, the province's police chief said Sunday.

The operation, which was launched Saturday in Kandahar province, has also cost the lives of two Canadian soldiers and their interpreter, as well as an Afghan soldier, in deaths that have already been announced.

"Our information from the area says that 100 Taliban have been killed and wounded," Kandahar police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb told AFP.

"Twenty-five Taliban have been buried in one location."

Air strikes had been called in against the rebels during the fighting in Zahri district, he said.

The police chief had no breakdown for his toll, which could not be checked independently.

A Canadian military spokeswoman, Captain Catherine Larose, confirmed that Canadian troops were involved in raids on Zahri, which is about 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of Kandahar city.

The two Canadian men killed Saturday with their interpreter by a bomb were involved in the operation, she said.

She could not immediately give other details.
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Afghan police, ministry differ on rebel casualties 
By IANS Sunday November 18, 04:53 PM
Kabul, Nov 18 (DPA) An Afghan police official claimed Sunday that their forces along with NATO troops killed and wounded up to 100 Taliban fighters in the southern region, while the country's defence ministry confirmed the death of only 12 militants.

According to Sayed Agha Saqib, provincial police chief, Afghan and NATO forces launched an operation against the hideouts of the Taliban militants in Zherai district of southern Kandahar province Saturday.

'Based on our information from the area, at least 25 dead were seen by local villagers buried in the area,' Saqib said, adding, 'In all around 100 Taliban were killed or wounded.'

Saqib said that NATO aircraft were also called in during the operation, which was still underway.

However, defence ministry spokesman Zahir Murad confirmed the death of only 12 Taliban militants and said that another nine insurgents were arrested during the fighting.

'Twelve bodies of the enemy fighters were left behind in the battlefield, but there might be more casualties inflicted on the Taliban forces,' Murad said.

The operation took place in the same area where two NATO-led Canadian soldiers and their interpreter were killed Saturday in a roadside bomb blast.

In neighbouring Helmand province, a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives-packed vehicle near a convoy of NATO forces in Gerishk district, was the only victim of Sunday's attack, said Mohammad Hussain Andewal, provincial police chief.

He said that one of the military vehicles in the convoy was partly damaged but there were no casualties among the soldiers or the civilians in the area.

In southern Ghazni province, militants attacked a police patrol on Saturday afternoon, and in the ensuing firefight two policemen and three insurgents were killed, provincial police chief Alishah Ahmadzai said.

Eleven other insurgents were killed in a clash with Afghan and NATO forces in Shah Joy district of southern Zabul province on Saturday, police commander Qasim Khan said.

The firefight also left one Afghan army soldier dead, Khan said.

More than 5,800 people -- mostly insurgents -- have been killed this year in the country, the highest yearly death toll since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.
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Taliban torture, execute 5 Afghan police
By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban militants tortured five abducted policemen in southern Afghanistan and then hung their mutilated bodies from trees in a warning to villagers against working with the government, officials said Sunday.

The discovery of the bodies came as officials said that recent violence and clashes had left at least 63 other people dead across Afghanistan.

The officers had been abducted two months ago from their checkpoint in southern Uruzgan province, said Juma Gul Himat, the provincial police chief. The Taliban slashed their hands and legs and hung the bodies on trees Saturday in Gazak village of Derawud district, he said.

"The Taliban told the people that whoever works with the government will suffer the same fate as these policemen," Himat said. "This village is under Taliban control. There are more than 100 Taliban in this village."

Two tribal elders received the bodies of the policemen on Sunday, he said.

Insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan has soared this year, killing more than 6,000 people, a record number, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.

The executions followed several days of violence in the country's south which left at least 63 people dead, including 58 militants and two Canadian soldiers.

Also in Uruzgan, police shot and killed two suspected Taliban militants on Sunday as they approached a police checkpoint on a motorbike, Himat said.

In Zabul province, the Taliban ambushed and clashed with an Afghan army patrol Saturday night, leaving 11 suspected insurgents dead and four soldiers wounded, said Qasem Khan, a provincial police official.

Authorities recovered the bodies of the 11 militants alongside their weapons, Khan said.

In southern Helmand province, a suicide bomber attacked a NATO patrol Sunday in Gereshk district, damaging a vehicle but causing no casualties, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.

In Kandahar province, Canadian and Afghan troops battled militants and called in airstrikes in Zhari district on Saturday, leaving an Afghan soldier and at least 20 suspected militants dead, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb.

A roadside bomb hit a NATO vehicle during the same battle, killing two Canadian soldiers and their translator and wounding three other Canadian troops, officials said.

Separately, a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a NATO convoy in Nangarhar province's Chaparhar district, killing an Afghan civilian and wounding another NATO soldier, officials said Saturday.

Elsewhere, 23 Taliban militants were killed during a U.S.-led coalition operation on Thursday aimed at disrupting a weapons transfer in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said.
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US to speed up Afghan weapons supplies: minister
Sat Nov 17, 6:50 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - The United States will speed up the supply of 50,000 assault rifles to the Afghan army, boosting its ability to take on the Taliban, Afghanistan's defence minister said Saturday.

Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters that he convinced US officials during a recent visit to accelerate supplies after delays caused by demand for guns in Iraq.

The new weapons will phase out old Russian and Chinese-made arms.

"This issue was very sensitive to us. There are lots of complaints about weapons in the army. The weapons in hand are very old, some 30 years," Wardak added.

The first batch -- some 5,000 assault rifles -- is scheduled to arrive in January and a further 10,000 each month until the target of 50,000 is met.

"I think when the snows have melted and the fighting season arrives, a vast majority of the Afghan army will be armed with M-16s instead of AK-47s," he said.

Wardak said US authorities had also pledged thousands of armoured vehicles.

Meanwhile, more than two dozen military aircraft, most of them Russian-made helicopters donated by the United Arab Emirates, were due to start arriving in batches of around three from next month, he said.

Building up the air force is the "only factor which has prevented us from independent operations," Wardak said.

Development of Afghanistan's security forces is part of an international commitment to the war-torn country made after a US-led invasion drove out the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, which had sheltered Al-Qaeda.

The army numbers about 50,000 soldiers and is scheduled to reach 64,000, with an additional 4,000-strong air force, by the end of next year.

However, Wardak has said the forces would need to be significantly larger to secure Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is gaining pace.

Afghanistan's international allies, which have about 55,000 soldiers in the country, are also keen for the Afghan forces to become established since this would allow them to withdraw from intense and costly battles.
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Taliban no long-term threat-Afghan defence minister
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Afghan security forces need more foreign training and arms to fight the Taliban but when the forces are up to strength the insurgents will not pose a long-term threat to stability, the defence minister said on Saturday.

While Taliban attacks cannot defeat the 50,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan alone, their strategy is to inflict casualties on international forces until Western public opinion demands their withdrawal leaving Afghan forces exposed.

Meanwhile, Taliban suicide bombs are aimed at undermining Afghan faith in the government's ability to deliver security.

"The psychological effects on people's minds is to make them think the situation is getting worse," Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak told a news conference after a trip to Afghanistan's main backer, the United States.

"The enemies have resorted to fighting in small groups and conduct guerrilla warfare and ambushes, but they are not posing any threat to long-term security in Afghanistan," he said.

NATO commanders admit there is no purely military solution to the Afghan conflict and say the key to victory is to build up the Afghan security forces and bring governance and development.

"Afghan security forces should be able to stand against all internal and external threats independently," Wardak said. "The international community must help Afghanistan reach this level ... (then) NATO will reduce its forces gradually."

MORE TROOPS, MORE GUNS

That could be some time though. Afghan police, until a large injection of U.S. funds this year, have suffered from a lack of investment and training and the Afghan army -- a relative success story -- is still not up to full strength.

There are 55,000 trained soldiers in the Afghan National Army out of a target strength of 70,000. The defence minister said even more might be needed.

Wardak said he had told U.S. officials that house-to-house searches should be conducted alongside Afghan forces and more precautions needed to be taken to avoid civilian casualties.

The United States would soon be shipping NATO-standard weapons, including M-16 rifles and ammunition, to replace Soviet-era equipment, Wardak said. Some 4,000 armoured vehicles, including Humvees, would also be sent.

Such arm supplies will mean Afghan forces will be better placed to take on the Taliban after the traditional winter lull in fighting, Wardak said.
(Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Peter Millership)
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Suicide attack on NATO convoy kills bomber himself in Afghanistan 
www.chinaview.cn  2007-11-18 15:40:16      Print
KABUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber driving an explosive-laden car targeted a convoy of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan's restive Helmand province Sunday, killing himself and damaging a military vehicle, police said.

"It was 10:30 a.m. local time when the bomber blew his car up next to the NATO convoy in Gereshk district, killing himself and damaging an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) of the troops," provincial police chief Mohammad Hussain Andiwal told Xinhua.
However, he said there were no casualties on the ISAF side. Also no civilians were killed or injured in the attack.

No group or individuals have claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militants who have staged a violent comeback three years ago often carry out such attacks.

Over 5,700 people have been killed in violence and conflicts so far this year in the war-torn Afghanistan.
 
Editor: Du Guodong 
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U.N. urges NATO to stop Afghan opium trade
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The United Nations is calling on NATO to do more to stop the Afghan opium trade after a new survey showed how the drug dominates Afghanistan's economy.

The report from the U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime shows the export value of this year's poppy harvest stood at around $4 billion, a 29 per cent increase over 2006.

Despite Afghan security forces' efforts to curb the trade, 660 tons of heroin and morphine were trafficked out of the country in 2007, the report said.

Opium is derived from poppies, and the data on cultivation was collected by examining satellite images and by assessments on the ground.

The report said opium has accounted for more than half of Afghanistan's gross domestic product in 2007. InvestorWords.com defines GDP as the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time, usually a calendar year.

According to the U.N. survey, about a quarter of the earnings from opium go to farmers. The rest goes to district officials who collect taxes on the crop, to drug traffickers and to the insurgents and warlords who control the trade.

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, urged NATO to take a more active role in countering the spread of the drug trade, which has increased dramatically since the American-led invasion to remove the hard-line Islamist government of the Taliban in October 2001.

"Since drugs are funding the insurgency, NATO has a self-interest in supporting Afghan forces in destroying drug labs, markets and convoys," Costa said in a written statement to coincide with the release of the survey. "Destroy the drug trade and you cut off the Taliban's main funding source."

James Appathurai, a NATO spokesman, said coalition forces were equally concerned by the rapid growth in the narcotics trade.

"We share the U.N.'s concerns," Appathurai told CNN. "Drugs not only poison people, but they poison economies and governments, and it is in everyone's interest to stop this proliferation."

He said NATO forces were providing assistance to Afghan police through training and transport but he said there were no plans to deploy coalition troops to intervene directly.

"The issue of whether we can do more is certainly a live discussion for NATO, but at the moment this is a matter for the Afghan government," Appathurai said.

Farming of opium poppies has been almost eradicated in the north and west of the country, Appathurai said.

However, he said, in the lawless southern provinces and especially in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand, poppy production was going on largely unchecked.

According to the report, U.N. observers have noticed a proliferation of heroin labs in neighboring countries and along trafficking routes.

Costa said the labs are dependent on precursor chemicals, like acetic anhydride, that must be smuggled into the region.

He called for tighter controls in chemical-producing countries and stronger intelligence-sharing between Afghanistan and its neighbors.

"Drug trafficking is a transnational threat, and therefore national initiatives have their limitations," the U.N. drug chief said.

Appathurai said the most effective way to curb the drug trade was tackling the insurgency head-on. He also said it was important to provide alternative work for poor Afghan farmers to encourage them to give up opium production.

"You cannot have eradication in isolation. If we don't give them the support to produce alternative crops, then by wiping out their opium fields, you are only creating enemies for the future," he said.
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Afghan police destroy 4 heroin labs 
People's Daily - Nov 17 11:05 PM
Afghanistan's Special Counter-Narcotic police have destroyed four heroin labs and more than five tones of contraband in eastern Nangarhar province, a statement of Afghan Interior Ministry said.

"Personnel of Counter-Narcotics Force in their efforts against illicit drug raided Achin district late Thursday and destroyed four heroin labs besides confiscating more than five tones of contraband including 44 kg heroin and 3,550 kg ammonium chloride used in manufacturing the drug," said the statement released on late Saturday.

In the statement, the ministry stressed that the government is determined to eradicate opium poppy in the war-torn country.

The post-Taliban Afghanistan with an output of 8,200 tones of opium poppy in 2007 once again topped poppy growing nations in the world.
Source: Xinhua
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Roadside bomb kills captain, sergeant in Afghanistan
By Mark St.Clair, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Pentagon has announced the deaths of a 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment captain and sergeant in Afghanistan.

Capt. David A. Boris, 30, of Pottsville, Pa., and Sgt. Adrian E. Hike, 26, of Callender, Iowa, were killed Monday near Bermel in eastern Afghanistan when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Both were members of 1-91’s Troop A deployed out of Schweinfurt, Germany.

Boris, a 1999 West Point graduate, graduated from Pottsville High School in 1995, where he was a standout athlete and Honor Society member, according to the Pottsville Republican-Herald.

“He was a great guy. I don’t know how else to describe him,” Linda Pavao, Boris’ mother-in-law, told the Republican-Herald. “If we could have handpicked a husband for our daughter, he would have been it.”

Boris’ wife of eight years, Jaime, resides in Schweinfurt. Pavao also said that Boris was looking to acquire a teaching position at West Point after his time in Afghanistan was complete.

On his second deployment, Hike previously had received a Purple Heart for actions in Iraq in 2005.

A 2000 graduate of Sac City High School in Sac City, Iowa, Hike believed in what he was doing, his mother, Kim Bird, told NBC affiliate KTIV. “(He) was a very giving person,” she said, adding that he loved being in the Army.

One of Hike’s former employers, Darwin Otto, of Casey’s General Store in Sac City, told KTIV, “His goal was always to strive for the best. That’s why he ended up what he is, because that’s what he wanted to be. He wanted to do something with his life.”

Hike is survived by his parents and four brothers.

A memorial service has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 28 at Ledward Barracks chapel in Schweinfurt.

Boris and Hike were the fourth and fifth members of 1-91 killed since the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, of which the squadron is a part, deployed on a 15-month assignment in May.

The brigade has now lost 26 during this rotation, equaling the number of soldiers lost on their two previous deployments downrange combined, having lost nine men in Iraq in 2003-04, and 17 in Afghanistan in 2005-06.
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AFGHANISTAN: Uneasy Over Pakistan's Emergency
KABUL, Nov 17 (IPS) - A wary Afghanistan has been closely following events across the border in Pakistan where President Gen. Pervez Musharraf clamped an emergency on Nov. 3 citing rising militancy and "interference" by the judiciary.

For two weeks, a defiant opposition has protested the clamp down on civil liberties and the abrogation of the Constitution. Hundreds of lawyers, civil society activists and journalists have been detained by military intelligence, and the orders for the arrests are "coming right from the top", according to Pakistan media reports.

A ban on public gatherings means that those who participate risk being detained and beaten up.

On Wednesday, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, an outspoken critic of Musharraf, was arrested on the campus of Punjab University in Lahore where he was addressing a student protest. Ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto who threatened a ‘long march to Islamabad’ on Nov. 13 was put under house arrest for a week.

Pakistan’s widely-watched, independent, Urdu-language news channels are off the air. The ban also extends to all Afghan channel telecasts from Pakistan. Gag orders have been lifted only on the English-language media, both print and TV, which do not threaten the authorities since they reach only a tiny elite.

The government has amended the Army Act of 1952 to allow military courts to try civilians. With Musharraf both the president and army chief, there are fears that the country may be under ‘martial law’ once again.

Turmoil in Pakistan has a direct impact on Afghanistan, Faruq Meranai, member of Parliament from Nangarhar province told the independent, Kabul-based newspaper Erada. "We are afraid that if the Pakistan military once again take power, they will interfere in our domestic affairs," he said bluntly.

Islamabad has had a hand in this country’s affairs since the Soviet occupation in 1979. Then military dictator Zia-ul-Haq joined on the side of the United States in its Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union over Afghanistan.

Through the 1980s, Pakistan was a conduit for arms and ammunition to mujahiddin factions who first fought against the Soviets and then the communist regime in Kabul before turning their massive firepower on each other.

The feuding factions who turned Afghanistan into a bloody battlefield were ousted in 1997 by the Taliban or student warriors who came over the Hindu Kush from madrasas or religious schools that sprouted along the Pakistan border with backing of the country’s shadowy Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

According to Sibghatullah Mojadedi, speaker of the upper house of Parliament, the ISI which has gone beyond the control of Pakistani governments, is "the main enemy of the people of Afghanistan". He was interviewed in the Hasht-e Sobh daily, Nov. 8.

When U.S. troops marched into Afghanistan in the so-called "war on terror" after the 9/11 bombings, the Taliban which refused to hand over al-Qaeda leaders, fled across the porous border with Pakistan to sanctuaries in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in end-2001.

Over the past two years, the Taliban have regrouped to challenge the Hamid Karzai government in southern Afghanistan, while militancy has engulfed both sides of the border, admitted Abdul Khaliq Hosaini, second secretary in Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga or lower house, speaking to Erada newspaper on Nov. 6.

In a bid to secure peace, Musharraf signed a controversial pact with pro-Taliban groups in FATA, enabling them to run a parallel government. But the violence has continued unabated, and spread to new areas like Swat, in neighbouring North Western Frontier Province (NWFP).

The army is launching a major offensive in the picturesque Swat valley against pro-Taliban cleric Mullah Fazlullah whose men have overrun most towns and villages in the valley. On Wednesday, 33 militants and two army soldiers were killed in the nearly daily air and gun battles.

Pakistan-watchers here view the escalating military action with scepticism. Most believe that until the support networks that feed the cross-border insurgency are not crushed, the arrests and gun battles will not make the slightest difference in restoring law and order along the conflict-scarred frontier.

The insurgency continues unabated in Afghanistan and it appears that the emergency in Pakistan will only embolden the Taliban and their allies to continue to consolidate their power in the tribal and border areas. Instability in Pakistan means instability for Afghanistan.

Moreover, according to Afghan journalist Rohullah Yaqubi, militancy in Pakistan has a direct bearing on the economic plight of people in Afghanistan. Most of what is sold in shops in Afghanistan is either smuggled or brought over land from Pakistan. Food prices have shot up alarmingly in recent months.

Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Muqbil acknowledged that recent events in Pakistan have had a negative impact, Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN), an independent news agency reported. That view was echoed by Sultan Ahmad Baheen, spokesman for the foreign ministry, who said Afghanistan was apprehensive of the volatile situation across the border.

(*Reporting for this contributed by The Killid Group and Pajhwok Afghan News)
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German trucks said not tough enough for Afghanistan 
Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:23:01 GMT EARTHtimes.org
Berlin - The German Army is to stop using a troop-carrying truck in Afghanistan after breakdowns on that nation's stony roads, according to a news report Sunday. The newspaper Welt am Sonntag said the Defence Ministry had confirmed to an opposition politician that the 28 Mungo trucks, which are made by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), would be brought home.

The suspension and axles of the Mungo, a four-wheel truck with armoured sides that can carry platoons, have been criticized as not robust enough.

The Mungos had not proved practical in Afghanistan, according to the ministry.

The trucks were sent of Afghanistan to offer German soldiers better protection from stray bullets than the 283 smaller, jeep-style Mercedes Wolf cars which are the main motor vehicle used as a runabout by the German peacekeepers.
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266 HIV cases detected in Afghanistan 
www.chinaview.cn  2007-11-18 19:32:19
KABUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Over 260 cases of HIV have been registered in the war-torn Afghanistan over the past three years, an official at Public Health Ministry said Sunday.

"Around 266 cases of HIV have been detected over the past three years in the country," Abdullah Fahim, spokesman of Afghan Public Health Ministry, told Xinhua.

However, he could not give the exact figure of those who have developed the full fledged epidemic of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

The official said that the AIDS epidemic has claimed the lives of five people in Afghanistan over the past three years.

Some 2,000 to 3,000 people, according to unofficial sources, are estimated to have contracted HIV/AIDS in the post-Taliban country where the facilities to detect and provide medical treatment are poor.

Nearly 100 local students on Sunday voluntarily visited some 150 beauty parlors and barbershops in the Afghan capital Kabul to promote awareness of the contagious epidemic among the citizens.
Editor: Du Guodong 
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The Talibanization of Pakistan
As the Musharraf-Bhutto showdown continues, Islamic militants are expanding their grip on territory on both sides of the Afghan border
Mitch Potter Toronto Star (Canada) Saturday, November 17, 2007
KABUL–If it is true that misery loves company, one can understand the dark bemusement coursing through the politically fragile Afghan capital these days, where the latest jokes come at the expense of the even more fragile neighbour to the southeast.

Not in recent memory has perennially miserable Afghanistan had a neighbour it could point to for comic relief. That the neighbour making grave news today just happens to be Pakistan makes it all the sweeter, if only because so many Afghans regard Pakistan as the meddling monkey on their back, whence all problems come.

One glib assessment offered to the Toronto Star this week at a gathering of Pashtun tribal leaders in Kabul described Pakistan as "an entity made entirely of Saudi religion, Indian culture and Afghan land. Take any one of those things away and you don't even have a country. It ceases to be."

But if the laughter that followed was hearty, it came with nervous undercurrents – acknowledgement that the joke may yet blow back across the porous border in the form of increased Taliban militancy that continues to bedevil NATO-led efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

"All that we are seeing beneath the border is frightening for Afghanistan, and by extension, it should frighten the world," said Abdul Ghafoor Liwal, senior analyst with the Regional Studies Centre of Afghanistan, a government-funded think-tank in Kabul.

"For so many years we suffered from a jihadist ideology scripted by Pakistan's army and intelligence services, going all the way back to the Soviet era. They nurtured and trained militant groups built on religious extremism with ample support of the CIA. This is established in fact," said Liwal.

"Now that the genie is out of the bottle it is not so easy to control. And as Pakistan weakens, it gains strength. For Afghans, there is perhaps a kind of satisfaction in this because the very policy we resented so much is backfiring on its source. But in the long run, there is no pleasure in the equation of weak governments on both sides of the border, because the monster in the middle can cut both ways."

Reports from the Pakistani side suggest that even after two weeks of emergency rule imposed ostensibly to push back pro-Taliban militants, forces loyal to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf continue to lose ground in the tribal region of Swat, the scene of heavy aerial attacks this week.

But from an Afghan point of view, the most disturbing news came in a two-part series this week by Asia Times correspondent Syed Saleem Shahzad datelined from the Nawa Pass overlooking the border.

Shahzad quoted a senior Taliban figure as saying a wide range of like-minded militant groups, including the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda, have agreed on a declaration of independence, with the goal of establishing an "Islamic emirate" that will eat into territory on both sides of the border.

Afghan political watchers are divided on the impact of such political propaganda, should militants follow through with the threat of declaring independence. Liwal, for one, regards it as a potentially grave development.

"I regard it as dangerous because when you look just below the border you see a vast tribal population that has lost its traditional leadership," said Liwal. "Before the Talibanization of this region the local jirgas of tribal elders held sway and the mullahs were second rank, with no say in policy. Now the mullahs and the madrassas make the policy, especially in Waziristan and the eastern tribal areas.

"In a way, I think the danger is worse for Pakistan. Because the Afghans are not so easily fooled. When the Taliban says, `We will make a nice caliphate. No more cutting off people's heads. You can even play music if you want,' the Afghan people can see through this miserable lie because we already suffered through it once before.

"But beyond the Pakistani border, it could be worse. The millions of people without traditional leadership can be very easily used."

The border itself is, of course, a geopolitical nightmare in its own right, insofar as it stands as little more than a grease-pencil mark dreamed up by the British empire – a make-believe dividing line between an unbroken sea of ethnic Pashtuns stretching from Kandahar province to just a few hours drive from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

On the Afghan side, Pashtuns comprise a majority, though few are certain of the precise numbers, but they live in even greater numbers – as many as 25 million – on the Pakistan side. None have ever accepted the establishment of the 1893 Durand Line that supposedly sets them apart.

But Afghan analysts suggest Pashtun nationalism ultimately may prove the most effective bulwark against the threat of a separatism based on religion.

"As much as some Pashtuns are becoming more extreme, they are nationalists first, not Islamists. The strongest belief is in pan-Pashtunism, which is a dream that would mean this population effective joining Afghanistan," said Muntqud Rahman Roadwal, general secretary of the Afghan Writers' Union.

"This has always been one of Pakistan's worst fears, and one of the reasons Pakistan is so politically motivated to prevent the rise of a strong Afghanistan. Because if Afghanistan is strong, it becomes a centre of gravity to pull the Pashtun back into its historic fold by erasing the Durand Line."

University of Kabul political scientist Mohammed Ismael Yoon characterizes the Pakistan crisis as "one of the worst in a 60-year series of crises between our countries.

"The world's worry should be keeping Pakistan's nuclear weapons out of the hands of extremists. Our immediate worry, meanwhile, is our fragile economy because absolutely everything comes and goes through the border with Pakistan," said Yoon, who is also a member of the Afghanistan National Security Council.
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RP lifts travel ban to Afghanistan, others
ABS-CBNNEWS.com - Nov 18 2:58 AM
A Philippine travel ban to Afghanistan has been lifted to allow Filipinos to work for subcontractors employed by the United States and its allies as well as the United Nations, the labor department said Sunday.

The Agence France-Presse report, however, said that the travel ban to Iraq will remain in force.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion added that the department will now allow Filipinos to travel to Lebanon, as well as to oil companies in Nigeria's Delta region.

In a written order, Brison said Filipinos may now work in Kabul and other areas of Afghanistan for coalition forces, UN agencies, the Red Cross and similar aid agencies.

Filipino domestics who had previously worked in Lebanon may now return to the Middle East country after the deadly fighting in July 2006, he said.

The travel prohibitons were imposed due to war or deteriorating security situations that have seen Filipinos abducted or, in the case of Iraq, killed in attacks against coalition convoys.
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The general pulls a fast one
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online / November 17, 2007 
KARACHI - A few days after President General Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency on November 10, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the secret service agency, met with leaders of the opposition parties to decide on a roadmap for a caretaker administration leading to general parliamentary elections in January and then to a post-election government.

The opposition parties, including the six-party religious alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, and the ruling Pakistan Muslim

League, finalized a seat adjustment mechanism through which these leading parties would receive significant representation in the next government.

At the same time, the ISI had a separate meeting with the Pakistan People's Party and assured its leader, Benazir Bhutto, that she would head a caretaker administration as prime minister.

As a result of these meetings, the opposition response to the declaration of the state of emergency was relatively muted - most reaction came from the legal profession, outraged at the sacking of Supreme Court judges, as well as the chief justice, and the suspension of the constitution.

But this week, the day that Pakistan finalized the details of a visit by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, starting on Friday, it also announced an interim government - and without Bhutto. Mohammedmian Soomro, chairman of Pakistan's Senate since 2003, was appointed interim prime minister to prepare for the parliamentary elections.

The message from the government to Bhutto was that it wanted a "non-controversial" premier. Bhutto's reaction was immediate and cutting - she called on Musharraf to step down as president, something she had not done before. But again the reaction of her supporters and those of other opposition groups was muted and they were unable to mobilize a significant show of strength on the streets.

Even Imran Khan, the leader of one of the smaller opposition parties, Tehrik-e-Insaf, was handed over to the authorities by students of one of the parties close to his.

So at the time of Negroponte's visit, there are unlikely to be any opposition rallies, and he will be advised that the only players in the ring are militants, including the Taliban, and the Pakistani military headed by Musharraf. And Negroponte will be told that the military is quite capable of dealing with this threat.

In other words, the US-inspired plan for Musharraf to form a political alliance with Bhutto is off the table - for now at least. Lulled by Musharraf's intrigues, Bhutto has not been able to stitch together an alliance of opposition parties.

In the meantime, perhaps as a show for Negroponte, Musharraf has switched on the "war on terror" in the Swat Valley in North-West Frontier Province. Over the past few days there has been a surge in military operations in the area against militants, including the Pakistani Taliban.

Musharraf can flick the off switch at any time, subject to the demands of the militants. They have already been granted their call for sharia law in the Swat Valley, but the real issue is the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from the key areas from which supplies are sent to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Either way, Negroponte knows that he will be dealing with Musharraf, who for now has effectively sidelined the opposition.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
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Musharraf remains the US's best option
By M K Bhadrakumar Asia Times Online / November 17, 2007
The visit by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Islamabad on Friday has a parallel in an extraordinary American mission jointly undertaken by the then-secretary of state Warren Christopher and national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski to the Pakistani capital almost 28 years ago. The photograph of Brzezinski at the Khyber Pass peering down the sights of an AK-47 into Afghanistan under Soviet occupation still stands out in the annals of the Cold War.

Analogies are never quite in order in politics, but what is useful to remember is that the two top-ranking officials of the Jimmy Carter administration were actually dealing with a Pakistani regime much weaker than the one President General Pervez Musharraf presently heads. Pakistan wasn't a nuclear power in February 1980, and General Zia ul-Haq was the pariah of the international community.

Zia had all the infirmities that dictators were afflicted with - an abominable human-rights record, his nuclear intent, his aversion to pluralism, his dalliance with religious bigotry, to name a few. He ignored pleas from world capitals and executed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former prime minister. The Pakistani armed forces were in terrible shape, and the country's economy was losing steam. The US Congress' Symington Amendment barred all US economic and military aid to Pakistan.

US officials (and newspapers) were confident Zia would grab the Brzezinski-Christopher package offered as inducement for fighting a clandestine war in Afghanistan. In the event, it took a further 14 months for Washington to work out the terms and conditions for bringing Zia's regime on board. An account of the riveting drama was later made available to readers by the then vice chief of army staff, General K M Arif, in his memoirs, Working with Zia.

The salient point is that Zia simply decided he would be better off not dealing with the "lame duck" Carter. Like the George W Bush administration today, Carter's administration too was wounded in the loins. The Islamic revolution in Iran of 1979 had inflicted a near fatal wound on Carter. Zia patiently waited for the regime change in Washington that brought in Ronald Reagan. After all, Pakistan had a future to consider beyond Carter's term in office.

A 'transactional relationship'

Negroponte would do well to remember that episode of the Zia era when he flies in from Africa on Friday and sits down with Musharraf in Rawalpindi. He should disregard the cacophony that Musharraf has his "back against the wall", or that the people have risen in revolt and the Pakistani military is about to refuse orders to fire on them, or that the Taliban are looking over the walls of Army House in Rawalpindi. Equally, he is unlikely to get very far unless he correctly estimates the "check list" of the Pakistan armed forces. That was also the problem 28 years back.

Senator Joe Biden, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (and a presidential aspirant) correctly identified the problem when he said this week that the relationship between the US and Pakistan is "largely transactional - and this transaction isn't working for either party". Biden argued, "We [the US] must move beyond this transactional relationship - the exchange of aid for services - to the normal functional relationship we enjoy with all our other military allies and friendly nations."

What he means is that the US and Pakistan must end their illicit nocturnal relationship. Indeed, the problem is that the Pakistani regime doesn't like being treated as an occasional fling when Washington is in heat. It doesn't think it is getting from Washington what is its due as the US's unique "non-NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] ally" in the region, and as a nuclear power with a big standing.

This is not a problem restricted to the Pakistani military. Biden noted, "Many Pakistanis believe that the moment Osama bin Laden is gone, US interest will be gone with him." The perennial Pakistani grievance has been that America is not a reliable ally and that US support is purely tactical. Does it require much ingenuity to see why the Musharraf regime's participation in the "war on terror" remains ambivalent at best?

Biden put his finger neatly on another aspect of the problem when he sized up that Pakistan harbors a great grievance about "our blossoming relationship with rival India". The grievance takes an acute form when Washington brusquely tells Islamabad that it does not qualify for the sort of nuclear cooperation that it proposes to have with New Delhi. Curiously, while opinion in India seems divided about the proposed nuclear cooperation with the US, Pakistanis see it as a dream deal that they would give anything to secure. Pakistani interlocutors never tire of complimenting Indian officials for negotiating such a good deal.

Washington doesn't seem to notice the Pakistani military's sensitivities about the US's perceived step-motherly attitude. From the military's perspective, the US is forging a strategic partnership with India, which is bound to elevate the latter into a super league of world powers. In comparison, the Pakistani military is entrapped in the Pakistan-Afghanistan tribal tracts as a border militia.

Biden is right in saying it is time Washington addresses the core issues of the US-Pakistan relationship. The issue is not about Musharraf alone. There is doubtless a massive undercurrent of "anti-Americanism" in Pakistani society. Pakistani journalist and author Ahmed Rashid recently noted that the animus against the US runs "most markedly in the educated middle classes".

Democracy on Musharraf's terms

In sum, Musharraf and the Pakistani military would see no reason to succumb to US pressure tactics. The increasingly defiant tone, almost unwillingly, in Musharraf's stance with regard to Washington must be carefully noted. Anyone who thought Musharraf and Bush were dissimulating disagreement would have realized by now that is not the case. Through a series of deft maneuverings, Musharraf shook free of US shackles.

Conceivably, pushed against the wall, the Pakistani military would choose to wait (like Zia did) to open a fresh page with a new administration in Washington. Pakistan can afford to do that. As it is, 75% of all supplies for the US forces in Afghanistan flow through or over Pakistan, including 40% of all fuel. The Pentagon press secretary admitted on Wednesday that the supply lines are already "a real area of concern for our commanders in Afghanistan". Also, Islamabad cannot be unaware that apart from the Afghan war, regional tensions involving the US with Iran, Russia and Central Asia are likely to accentuate in the near term, which in turn will only increase US dependence on Pakistan.

The Pakistani corps commanders met in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Since then, through a series of public statements, Musharraf and people close to him have revealed much about what Negroponte can hope to get done during his day-long visit, which will be the US diplomat's second visit to Pakistan within a month.

First, Negroponte will be off the mark if he imagines he can still catapult former prime minister Benazir Bhutto into high office. (She seems to pin residual hopes on Negroponte, though.) The army and the Punjabi-dominated establishment simply refuse to allow Bhutto to come into the corridors of power. The establishment sees Bhutto as a difficult personality - "the most

corrupt, sluggish and extravagant politician in Pakistan", according to Musharraf's close confidante, Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - and as a spent force politically. Musharraf has publicly debunked her claims to popularity in Pakistan.

The establishment ensures that the country's democratic opposition won't rally around Bhutto. It is confident that elections set for January will go ahead with or without her participation. Meanwhile, Bhutto will need time to emerge from the pervasive cloud of public suspicion that she secretly consorts with the regime even now. Even if Bhutto wins majority support in the elections - which is highly unlikely - the present constitution doesn't allow her to become prime minister for a third time.

US pressure tactic won't work

Second, Negroponte may complain, but the regime remains adamant that the state of emergency is needed to ensure the smooth conduct of elections. The regime calculates that ultimately, political parties will participate in the elections regardless of the emergency.

Third, the regime will cut back on the "war on terror" if Negroponte tries any of his famous tricks learnt in previous diplomatic assignments (Honduras, Ferdinand Marcos' Philippines), like threatening to cut off military aid.

On the contrary, he may pick up from Rawalpindi a fresh list of demands for military aid. Musharraf told The New York Times on Tuesday that the military is finding it impossible to silence an amateur FM radio station run by the leading pro-Taliban religious leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, for want of "technical means to do it". He underscored that the US must therefore give more aid. He also pointed out that out of 10 Cobra helicopters that the US has supplied, "We have only one that is serviceable. We need more support."

Fourth, Negroponte is bound to disturb a hornets' nest if he broaches, however diplomatically, the subject of the control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Islamabad has taken very seriously a report in the Washington Post that the Bush administration has drawn up "contingency plans" in the event the Pakistani military loses control of the weapons.

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman promptly denounced the "irresponsible conjecture" and warned: "If there is any threat to our nuclear assets and sovereignty, we have the capacity to defend ourselves ... suffice it to say that Pakistan possesses adequate retaliatory capacity to defend its strategic assets and sovereignty."

Again, it must be understood that at every stage in recent months Musharraf has acted on the basis of decisions reached by the collegium of corps commanders. While propagandists (in Pakistan and abroad) may suggest that an army revolt against Musharraf is conceivable, the general indeed exudes the confidence of a military man who commands absolute loyalty. In any case, the Pakistani army has never witnessed a break in its chain of command at the top, nor staged a coup against one of its own.

In fact, it would be the height of folly for Washington to try to create dissensions within the Pakistani army, which is the only institution that transcends the various templates of ethnic, regional, and religious differences that threaten the country's unity and integrity. As long as the army stays united, the Pakistani state has inherent stability and a fair chance of outliving the weaknesses of its civilian institutions, democratic elections or any of the fragilities associated with civil society.

Musharraf was essentially right when he said this week, "The military is strong and very disciplined. As long as the armed forces of Pakistan remain united, which they will and are, no harm can come to Pakistan. The harm can come from the political dilemma. We have to resolve the political dilemma." Of course, as long as the armed forces remain united, the "Talibanization" of Pakistan will remain a very low probability - almost non-existent. The implications for regional stability are self-evident.

Persuasion may work

Thus, given the political gridlock ensuing from the breakdown of the Musharraf-Bhutto deal and the absence of any plan B, Negroponte will have to take a good second look at what is on offer from Musharraf - a continuation of the present ruling alliance with adjustments. He could always offer improvements. That's far from the best scenario possible, but there may be little choice in the matter.

Significantly, a caretaker government has already been sworn in on the eve of Negroponte's arrival, headed by Mohammad Mian Soomro, the chairman of the Pakistan Senate and a dependable hand. It is just as well that Negroponte is due to call on Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, cousin of the powerful leader of the present ruling alliance, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Elahi is widely tipped as the next prime minister of Pakistan.

Finally, Negroponte will know that after all, Washington has ways to influence Musharraf, and there is no need to insult the general and unintentionally unleash the anger of the Pakistani military. Musharraf has already offered that the choice is entirely Bhutto's to be conciliatory or confrontational. Negroponte and Musharraf could find common ground in lifting the emergency as soon as possible - they could even agree on a date - or removing restrictions on the media and civil society, or, better still, releasing political leaders and activists from detention.

One thing is clear. The military is not with Bhutto, and the country doesn't seem to trust her. Musharraf happens to be the only acceptable game in Islamabad.

M K Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including India's ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).
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American University of Afghanistan Selects SunGard Higher Education to Help Prepare for Academic Growth
18-11-2007 , 11:51 GMT Al-Bawaba, Jordan
SunGard Higher Education (http://www.sungardhe.com), a global leader in IT solutions for the higher education sector, announced today an agreement with the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) to deploy the PowerCAMPUS Unified Digital Campus (UDC).

The PowerCAMPUS UDC is a Microsoft-based, comprehensive administrative system that helps institutions of higher education with admissions, academic records, advancement, billing and cash receipts, financial aid, finance, human resources, and portal needs.

The American University of Afghanistan, a non-profit Higher Education institution in Kabul, Afghanistan, was founded in 2005 through the sponsorship of USAID and other regional philanthropists, to provide high quality educational opportunities to the local community. SunGard Higher Education will assist AUAF in the implementation of PowerCAMPUS, helping the institution meet its goal of doubling its enrollment growth each year over the next five years. The PowerCAMPUS UDC will automate many tasks which will help give faculty and staff at AUAF more time to concentrate on teaching and providing students with a well-rounded learning environment.

Dr. Thomas Stauffer, president of the American University of Afghanistan commented, “The American University of Afghanistan is bringing world-class education to Afghanistan’s future leaders. SunGard Higher Education will provide the University with the necessary solutions to support our administration process, helping us to reach more students and helping us to meet our goals for growth and future success.”

Recruiting and admitting new students is a priority for AUAF. PowerCAMPUS will help the small and well-qualified team at AUAF to manage growing administration needs without having to hire additional staff.  Eventually students will be able to use the system to apply online, as the country’s technological infrastructure matures. In subsequent phases of the project, AUAF will use PowerCAMPUS to help track the progress of students and manage the delivery of academic programs.

“We are proud to be playing a key role in the AUAF project since it delivers very tangible benefits to the local community. PowerCAMPUS is recognized by the AUAF as a solution that can be deployed and managed by a small staff, in a short period of time, and without complex IT support needs. The solution will help AUAF use development resources where they count— in supporting the needs of its students,” said Mathew Boice, General Manager, EMEA, SunGard Higher Education.

“Working closely with the American University of Afghanistan is rewarding for us on many levels - such as helping to support the University’s mission in the region, which is at the forefront of the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. The team at AUAF is a very special group of people doing important work,” added Mr. Boice.

About American University of Afghanistan
Established in 2005, The American University of Afghanistan is quickly becoming the preferred institution of higher education in Afghanistan and the region. It is the nation’s first private, independent university. Further, it is non-political, non-sectarian, co-educational, student-centered, internationally-supported, and ethically-driven. It emphasizes higher education for the professions, offering world-quality education at the levels of university preparation, undergraduate degree programs, and professional development. Open, transparent, and committed to equality of opportunity, the future leaders of Afghanistan find their home at the American University of Afghanistan.
www.auaf.edu.af

About SunGard Higher Education
SunGard Higher Education provides software and support, systems implementation and integration, strategic consulting, and technology management services to help colleges and universities build, unify, and manage their digital campuses.  Bringing together people, processes, and technology, SunGard Higher Education assists more than 1,600 customers worldwide to strengthen institutional performance through improved constituent services, increased accountability, and better educational experiences.  www.sungardhe.com

About SunGard
With annual revenue exceeding $4 billion, SunGard is a global leader in software and processing solutions for financial services, higher education and the public sector.  SunGard also helps information-dependent enterprises of all types to ensure the continuity of their business.  SunGard serves more than 25,000 customers in more than 50 countries, including the world’s 50 largest financial services companies.  Visit SunGard at www.sungard.com.

Trademark Information: SunGard, the SunGard logo and PowerCAMPUS are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
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Shakira broadcast sparks row in Afghanistan
By Tom Coghlan in Kabul 3:07pm GMT 18/11/2007 Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
A hip-shaking performance by the pop star Shakira has provoked a showdown between the Afghan government and the country’s independent media.
 
The culture ministry has been joined by senior Muslim clerics in warning the country’s largest private television station of serious consequences following the broadcast of a concert by the Colombian singer, famous among her young fans for her onstage gyrations.

The performance by Shakira, whose hits include Hips Don’t Lie, left Tolo TV facing possible legal action by the authorities, who are poised to take dramatic steps against the more liberal-minded newspapers and broadcast media.

The incident is the latest sign of a growing fight back by the country’s powerful conservative establishment against the tide of Western-backed liberal reforms since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001.

Draconian new media legislation is soon to be signed into law by President Hamid Karzai after it was recently approved by the Kabul parliament.

The measures will give the government greater powers to limit broadcasts that are deemed damaging to Afghanistan and its culture, primarily by forcing television stations to carry more religious programmes or face going off air.

The Shakira broadcast caused consternation even though she appeared with computer pixellation covering her chest.

State television broadcast interviews with clerics and MPs criticising the concert while one pro-government newspaper attacked the "notorious" broadcast of a "naked US pop singer and dancer" claiming it provided inspiration to suicide bombers.

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"We believe Shakira’s song will be shown with Tolo TV’s exclusive logo at the training camps for suicide attackers to urge our immature young people to leave a number of our mothers bereaved," said the Weesa newspaper.

But the owner of Tolo TV, Saad Mohseni, who grew up in Australia, said: "This was not that provocative and Shakira was pixellated. The government are looking for an excuse to have a go at us.

"When we give airtime to the Taliban we are 'talking to terrorists', when we air people criticising the government we are told we are 'opposing peace and reconciliation'."

Afghanistan’s media has enjoyed a startling renaissance since 2001.

Television was banned under the Taliban, but today eight independent television stations are broadcasting as well as more than 60 FM radio stations, while hundreds of newspapers and magazines are in circulation.

However, instances of press intimidation and harassment have risen sharply in the past year. Two female journalists are among several to have been murdered.

The annual survey of media freedom worldwide by the organisation Reporters Without Borders ranked Afghanistan as 142nd out of 196 countries, and commented: "The Afghan media is in its worst state in six years."

Mr Karzai’s government has become increasingly alarmed by both press criticism and the danger that the liberalism apparent within the media could fuel the Taliban insurgency.

Afghanistan’s constitution guarantees the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which include freedom of speech and expression.

But it also includes a prominent article which states that "no law can be contrary to the provisions and practices of Islam".

This has proved a battleground between liberals and conservatives particularly in relation to restrictions within Islam’s Sharia laws, most notably those on blasphemy.

Tolo TV has been frequently criticised for broadcasting Western-style programmes including versions of MTV, Oprah and Pop Idol.

MPs were furious when the station recently broadcast footage of them nodding off and picking their noses during parliamentary debates.

Meanwhile, opinion on the streets of Kabul is divided over the Shakira broadcast. "Her clothes were very tight," said Sharif, a 41-year-old doorman who watched the concert. "Religious people say it is the West trying to impose their values but I had no problem with it."
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Afghanistan says no to resolution for moratorium on death penalty
UNITED NATION, Nov 16 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan Thursday voted against a resolution in a key UN committee calling the member nations to declare a moratorium on death penalty.

The resolution introduced in the Third Committee -- which looks after human rights issues of the General Assembly -- by Italy and co-sponsored by more than 80 other countries was passed by 99 votes in favor, 52 against and 33 abstentions. Though the resolution is non-binding in nature, the General Assembly is expected to endorse the decision in a plenary session in December.

Important South Asian countries, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives voted against the resolution along with Afghanistan. Except for India, which said the resolution goes against countrys statutory law, rest of the South Asian nations voted against because of religious considerations.

Our position on death penalty is based on the constitution of Afghanistan, the Afghan Ambassador to the UN, Zahir Tanin, told Pajhwok Afghan News after the voting. We are an Islamic country wherein death penalty is allowed and is in accordance with the Islamic law, he said. At the same time, Tanin said Afghanistan is committed to the international law and conventions.

With Afghanistan executing death penalty on 15 prisoners last month, it was one of the major centers of debate during the entire deliberations that went on for several weeks informally and formal in the run up to the vote.

Passage of the resolution, following several weeks of intense negotiations both in closed door and in open, was heralded by its sponsors, mostly from the European Union, as historic and a step towards the abolition of the death penalty worldwide. Welcoming the passage of the resolution, the Italian Ambassador to the UN, Marcello Spatafora, said: In approving this resolution, we will be starting a process in which we will be all working together, we will be all walking together along the same path, with equal dignity, with full mutual respect.

Expressing delight at the passage of the resolution for a world-wide moratorium on the use of the death penalty, the British Ambassador to the UN, Sir John Sawers, said: The strong vote in favor of this resolution is further evidence that the centre ground on this debate has shifted towards the end of the use of the death penalty world-wide. Sawers said it is a sign of the increasing conviction within the international community that justice can be administered through more humane, appropriate and effective means. "The UK will continue to work bilaterally and with our European Union and other partners to help put this conviction into practice," he said.

The resolution passed Thursday is a step ahead of the previous General Assembly resolutions of 1971 and 1977 which said that it was "desirable" for states to abolish death penalty.

The latest resolution calls on countries that still maintain death penalty "to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty". It urges them "to respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty" and "progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and reduce the number of offences for which it may be imposed."  The resolution also requests the UN Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly in 2008 on the implementation of the resolution.

Terming it as a crucial step forward in creating a death-penalty free world, Amnesty International spokesperson, said:  Today's decision -- adopted by the UN's highest political body with universal membership -- is a clear recognition of the growing international trend towards worldwide abolition of the death penalty, endorsed by the UN Secretary-General.
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Kabul Signs Deal On Transit of Central Asian Electricity To Pakistan
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
November 16, 2007 -- Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan today signed an agreement on electricity exports through a cable network they hope will be completed by 2012.

Afghan Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan says electricity shipments from the former Soviet republics in Central Asia would transit Afghanistan in order to reach markets in Pakistan. He says Afghanistan also would be allowed to use about 25 percent of the power for its own needs.

Taliban-related violence and disputes between rival Afghan militia factions have hampered efforts to build a proposed natural gas pipeline linking Turkmenistan to Pakistan. But the proposed electricity cables would pass through the relatively stable north of Afghanistan.
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Iran supports insurgent groups in Afghanistan: Khalilzad
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 16, (Pajhwok Afghan News): The United States Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, charged Thursday that Iran is helping the insurgent groups in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And since Iran is seeking regional hegemony and has ties with terrorists organizations, it is time for the international community to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons; he told the media at the UN soon after the IAEA released its report on Iran.

Because Iran is seeking regional hegemony, because Iran has ties with terrorists organizations, because Iran supports insurgent groups in Iraq and in Afghanistan, because of rhetoric of the Iranian leaders given all that it is a defining issue and therefore the international community as a whole has a stake in doing all that we can diplomatically to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, Khalilzad said.

For the past several months, the US has been charging Iran of helping the terrorists organizations in Afghanistan with arms and ammunition. Its officials have even produced alleged Iranian built weapons in Afghanistan captured from the militants. However, the Afghanistan Government has always insisted that there has not been any such concrete evidence, though there have been some reports in this regard and it is watchful on this issue.

Khalilzad said after the IAEA report it has become clear that Iran is going ahead with its nuclear program. As a result the US believes that there is need to move forward with another resolution in the Security Council under Chapter 7, to impose additional sanctions on Iran, he said.
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Kunar for arresting conspirators of Baghlan incident
ASADABAD, Nov 16 (Pajhwok Afghan News): About 500 people took out to streets on Friday in Asadabad demanding the arrest of those responsible of the tragedy of Baghlan province and condemning suicide attacks in the country.

The demonstration continued for an hour. All the bazaars were closed and traffic also remained off the road.

Maulavi Abdur Rehman, a demonstrator told Pajhwok Afghan News that suicide attacks were forbidden (Haram) in Islam. He said that killing an innocent human being was equal to killing the entire humanity.

Another protester Maulavi Farmanullah condemned the Baghlan bombing incident in which more than 50 innocent people including women and children and a number of parliamentarians had lost their lives. He demanded that the Afghan government should properly and judiciously investigate the incident and those responsible for the incident must be awarded exemplary punishment.

Similarly the protestors also demanded punishment for Ghaus Zalmy, alleging that he had desecrated the Holy Quran and had injured the feelings of the Muslims.

Latter through a resolution the demonstrators said that the country needed reconstruction instead of suicide attacks and asked the opponents of the government to stop the opposition and engage themselves in the reconstruction of the nation.
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ISAF claims rounding up two suspects in Zabul
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Nov (Pajhwok Afghan News): Two people were arrested by coalition forces during an operation in Deh Chopan district of Zabul province in suspicion of their involvement in the insurgency, says a press release issued here on Friday.

It further adds that the coalition forces accompanied by Afghan national police conducted a search of compounds in the district for facilitators indicated to be in the area.  Coalition forces found and detained two people that intelligence sources indicated as having possible connections with foreign facilitators in the area.

The detainees will be questioned as to their involvement with facilitation operations as well as other extremist activities.

Minor damage occurred to buildings on a compound during the course of operations.

However the officials in the district and Zabul province said that they had no knowledge of the arrest.

Gulab Shah Alikhel, the spokesman of the governor of Zabul told Pajhwok Afghan News that he had not received any report in this regard till yet. He added that he was also in contact with the national police in this respect.

Abdul Bari, district chief of Deh Chopan had also no information about the incident.
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US asks NATO allies for more helicopters in Afghanistan
NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The United States has asked its NATO allies to send more helicopters in Afghanistan as its is falling short of this key flying tool to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists in the country.

 I would say just as a matter of general principle, our helicopter resources are pretty pushed between Iraq and Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a press briefing at Pentagon.

 Referring to the recently concluded meeting of NATO Defense Ministers, Gates said: A good part of the time that I spent at the NATO defense ministerial was trying to get more allied helicopters into Afghanistan to relieve the stress on ours.

At the same press conference, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen echoed the same. I do know, back to my time this week in Brussels that we were specifically talking about helicopters, as the Secretary indicated, to support the mission in Afghanistan he said.

There seems to be enormous pressure on them (US forces in Afghanistan), Mullen said and, added: If there is one resource that we are seemingly pretty short of, it's almost universally helicopters. And so there's a great need for them, clearly.
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